Weinstein Company via Everett Collection
In what might be the first bit of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice casting news that won’t send fans into a tailspin, DC and Warner Bros. are reportedly adding Scoot McNairy to the cast of the upcoming blockbuster. However, though Deadline revealed the news, the character that McNairy will be playing is being kept securely under wraps, along with whether or not his role is a Zack Snyder original or if he’s someone comic book fans are already familiar with. Since he’s joined the cast this late into production, it seems unlikely that McNairy’s character will play a large role in Dawn of Justice, but we have to imagine (considering his cult acclaim) it will be one of thematic sigificance. All of this leads us to believe that even though McNairy might not have a lot of screen time in this film, he’s most likely going to play a larger role in one of the other films that the studio has lined up. In other words, his Batman V Superman cameo might be the inception of McNairy's role as a member of the Justice League.
Since DC has the Justice League film slated for release immediately afterwards, it would be a good way to introduce fans to McNairy without throwing him immediately into a major superhero role. Many fans seem to be speculating that he will bring The Flash to the big screen, which is most likely due to his appearance and previous roles, as well as to the fact that DC hasn’t revealed whether they plan to recast Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern... but of course they won't.
Casting McNairy as The Flash – or any major superhero, for that matter – would be a change of pace for Warner Bros' DC series, a company that has thus far stuck to actors who are already household names for this film, between Ben Affleck, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jeremy Irons. Even Gal Gadot and Henry Cavill, who were unknowns when they were chosen to help fill out the Justice League, are blockbuster stalwarts (Gadot broke through to the mainstream in the Fast and Furious movies, while Cavill had roles in everything from Immortals to Red Riding Hood). McNairy, by contrast, is a character actor, one who is well-respected amongst critics and cinephiles, but not particularly well-known by the average moviegoer.
McNairy brings something of an edge to a cast that is already packed with A-List actors and respected talents. Affleck might have more awards, by McNairy is far more "hip"; he’s still an underground celebrity, which appeals to a different kind of audience than his co-stars might. It’s an avant-garde choice for DC, a step away from the standard big-name approach that they’ve been taking recently to turn an acclaimed indie actor into a major superhero. In fact, it seems much more like the kind of casting decision that Marvel would make. This is their equivalent of casting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man or Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. Or just about anybody in Guardians of the Galaxy.
If McNairy does join the cast, it would be the closest that DC has gotten to following in Marvel’s footsteps. It doesn’t matter how quickly you can churn out blockbusters, or how much money they make, or even how heavily intertwined your universe is if you don’t have the right actors on board to inhabit the heroes. Sometimes, that means casting the best actor you can find instead of the most famous or the best looking one. McNairy would be a step in the right direction for DC in terms of building a solid cinematic universe, and depending on how fans respond to his character, it could be the model that the studio should follow when casting other roles. McNairy would give them a talented, well-liked actor with plenty of indie cred who could probably play any role they asked him to, and it would definitely benefit DC to have someone like that on their roster.
And it would benefit the rest of the world to finally see McNairy become a household name, rather than just “that guy who was in that thing.”
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DC Comics
Between Marvel's ever-expanding cinematic universe, Sony's tangled web of Amazing Spider-Man characters, and the way Fox keeps rolling out X-Men films, Hollywood is in the middle of a veritable superhero onslaught. However, NikkiFinke.com reports that things are only just getting started, with DC and Warner Bros. planning to roll out their own interconnected series very soon. In addition to Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the studios are working on a Justice League movie and solo films for Wonder Woman and Shazam, as well as a Flash/Green Lantern crossover and yet another outing for Superman.
Warner Bros. was set to officially unveil the plans at this year's Comic-Con, along with new details about the upcoming Sandman film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a tentative release schedule that would take them well into 2018. According to the site, the studio has been working on this for some time, and even delayed the release of Batman Vs. Superman so that it would better fit with the rest of the planned universe. With so many films lined up for such a short period of time (expect at least two DC films a year for the next four years) it can be a little difficult keeping track of everything on the slate. We've run down everything we know about the upcoming DC/Warner Bros. universe, along with the reasons you should get excited about them. Although it is kind of hard to be enthusiastic about two Man of Steel sequels.
Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice Release Date: May 2016 Who's In It: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Laurence Fishburne will all reprise their roles from Man of Steel, and will be joined by Ben Affleck as Batman, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. What We Know About It: Plot details are still being kept under wraps, but it will feature Superman facing off against a "older, worn-down" Batman in some capacity. The film's also supposed to be both a follow up to Man of Steel and a prequel for the Justice League movie, so Wonder Woman and Cyborg will be involved in some capacity, although thus far it's not known how much screen time they'll get. How Excited We Are For It: Anything that gets fans as riled up as this film has is definitely worth seeing. As of right now, though, it's hard to predict if it will live up to all of its hype.
Shazam Release Date: July 2016 Who He Is: Originally known as Captain Marvel, Shazam is the altar ego of sports reporter Billy Baston, who was given magical powers by an ancient wizard who wanted Billy to help people. When he says "Shazam!" he is transformed into a super-human with powers from six mythical heroes: wisdom from King Solomon, strength from Hercules, stamina from Atlas, the power of Zeus, courage from Achilles, and speed from Mercury. What We Know About It: Not much. A Shazam film was rumored to be in the works until recently, when Peter Segal (who was on board to direct) left the project, citing the difficulties of turning Shazam's story into a film. Nobody was expecting it to turn up on the schedule, especially with such a close release date. How Excited We Are For It: It's hard to be excited about a project that nobody saw coming, but we're definitely intrigued to find out more. However, if this is indeed the secret DC character that The Rock has been hinting at recently, we're officially on board.
Sandman Release Date: December 2016 Who's In It: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to produce the project, and is also rumored to be starring as Dream. What We Know About It: To start, it has nothing to do with the other comic book movies that Warner Bros. is working on. The film, which is based on Neil Gaiman's wildly popular series, has been in development for 25 years, but this time Gaiman is involved in production, which is a good sign. However, the script is being written by David Goyer, which could cancel out some of that goodwill. How Excited We Are For It: Cautiously optimistic. The release date is the biggest sign of confidence we've seen so far, but there are still too many elements up in the air for us to to completely drop our guards.
Justice League Release Date: May 2017 Who's In It: Thus far, we're guaranteed to see Affleck, Cavill, and Gadot as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, respectively, as well as Ray Fisher as Cyborg. The studio has yet to cast the remaining team members, although Matt Damon and Jason Momoa have both been rumored for Aquaman. What We Know About It: It will be DC and Warner Bros' answer to The Avengers, so expect lots of action, explosions, and angst. It should also be connected to Batman Vs. Superman in some way, but that's all that's been revealed thus far. How Excited We Are: We're going to have to see Batman Vs. Superman first, but we're definitely looking forward to this one. Hopefully, the studio will use this as an opportunity to add some much-needed levity to the dark, gritty universe they're currently building. What's the point of a superhero film without the wisecracks?
Wonder Woman Release Date: July 2017 Who's In It: The only one we can say for sure is Gadot as Diana Prince a.k.a. Princess Diana of Themyscira a.k.a. Wonder Woman.What We Know About It: Next to nothing. DC and Warner Bros have wavered for so long on making a Wonder Woman movie that we have no idea what to expect, although we do have very high hopes. How Excited We Are For It: Are you kidding? We'd buy tickets now if we could. Fans have been clamoring for a Wonder Woman movie for so long that it's hard not to be a little skeptical about its chances of actually making it into theaters, but until we hear otherwise, we're just going to enjoy knowing that a Wonder Woman film is finally on its way.
Flash/Green Lantern Release Date: December 2017Who's In It: Though the DC universe technically already has a Green Lantern in Ryan Reynolds, they haven't hinted at whether he'll be reprising his role, or if they're looking in a new direction (probably the latter).What We Know About It: Again, next to nothing. We don't even know which iteration of the Green Lantern will be part of the team. It would make sense to continue with Hal Jordan, but if they're looking to differentiate this Lantern from Reynolds', they might be better off choosing a different alter ego. How Excited We Are For It: Not very. The last Green Lantern film was terrible, so we don't have a lot of confidence that this one will be better, and we can get our Flash fix with the upcoming CW show, so we won't be marking our calendars for this one just yet.
Man of Steel 2 Release Date: May 2018 Who's In It: Cavill, of course. We also wouldn't be surprised to see Adams, Fishburne, and Diane Lane come back, since they've all signed on for Batman Vs. Superman... unless any of them faces a grim fate in that film, which isn't too unlikely.What We Know About It: It will most likely deal directly with the events of Batman Vs. Superman and Justice League, although we are suprised to hear of this "official" Man of Steel sequel, considering Warner Bros. has been billing Batman Vs. Superman as such for some time now. How Excited We Are For It: We're in favor of anything that promises to get the memory of the first Man of Steel out of our head. Here's a chance to fix your mistakes, Warner Bros.

Welsh actor Michael Sheen's Rest of the World team was victorious over an all-star England squad at the 2014 Soccer Aid charity match on Sunday (08Jun14). Sheen, who left the game with an elbow injury after just 15 minutes, captained a team of former international soccer stars and celebrities, including actors Sam Worthington, Jeremy Renner and James McAvoy, TV chef Gordon Ramsay, former Westlife singer Nicky Byrne, and Glee star Mark Salling at the sporting fundraiser in Manchester, England.
His team beat the England side 4-2 thanks to three goals from Dutch ex-pro Edgar Davids and one by Byrne.
The biennial event, organised by British singer Robbie Williams, raises money for UNICEF UK.
Williams helped manage the 2014 England team, which included his former Take That bandmate Mark Owen, JLS star Marvin Humes, singer Olly Murs and actor Jack Whitehall, after ruling himself out of the action with a back injury.

Dimension Films
Nine years isn’t such a gap in comparison to the time it took to make prequels like Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Prometheus, but it still feels like we've been waiting forever for a Sin City sequel. The first film shocked audiences with a cutting edge cinematic style and a sexy, violent trip through a beloved comic franchise. This prequel has suffered some major losses to the cast and a general loss of buzz from the original. So we're wondering if waiting a decade has actually harmed the upcoming new movie.
First off, casting. Sadly, Brittany Murphy and Michael Clarke Duncan have passed away since the release of Sin City. The lengthy delay in filming cost the film these actors and quite a few more. Dennis Haysbert will be taking over the golden-eyed role of Manute. But can he play a convincing villain if his voice makes people want to double check their insurance rates? Devon Aoki’s model good looks and silent intensity were immortalized in the character of Miho. She’s been replaced by former Real World star Jamie Chung. Chung has been action-ish in Sucker Punch and Once Upon a Time , but she also starred in the utterly horrible Dragonball: Evolution. Eva Green plays the highly coveted role of Ava Lord. She’s not the worst choice but is a bit of a downgrade considering Angelina Jolie or Scarlett Johansson could have had the role. Finally, Michael Madsen has been replaced by Ari Gold himself, Jeremy Piven.
Additionally, the buzz may have all but faded. Die hard Frank Miller fans will come out for the film regardless of the questionable casting and the long delay. However, a lot of the major excitement riding off the first movie has dissipated. Sin City was monumental, but films that have come since and borrowed the same ilk, like Watchmen and Sucker Punch, have done poorly in theaters. In the last nine years, stars like Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, and Rosario Dawson have lost a lot of their A-list appeal, lowering their grade to the likes of Good Luck Chuck, Iron Man 2, and The Zookeeper respectively.
The casting may be less exciting than the original but Joseph Gordon-Levitt has joined the cast. A Dame to Kill For is also one of the most exciting and intricate stories of the comic book franchise. It’s also the entire driving force behind Clive Owen’s character in the original film. Only time will tell if the film will be as great as the original. However, the geek appeal will definitely draw some butts to seats.
Has nine years left you indifferent or dying to see the sequel?
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DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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CTMG
It's no secret that directors often cast the same actors over and over in different projects. After all, they've made a strong connection, proven that they work well together, and have become like a cinematic family. So, when David O. Russell needed to cast his latest film, American Hustle, he didn't have to look far for talent; he chose actors he had previously directed in the Oscar-nominated films The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook. With that much talent and camaraderie on board, its no wonder that the film has been getting a great deal of awards buzz, and even earned 7 Golden Globe nominations.
But Russell isn't the only director to have found success with a particular combination of actors. In fact, some of the most critically and financially successful films in recent years have come from similar teams. In honor of American Hustle hitting theaters this weekend, we've decided to rank five famous director and actor teams in order to determine who has the most successful partnership of them all.
5. David O. Russell: Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence. Though the newest addition to the list, the Russell and Co. partnership has already had a great deal of critical success. Adams and Bale starred in 2010's The Fighter, which earned Russell and Adams each an Oscar nomination, and a Best Supporting Actor win for Bale. Russell followed that up with last year's Silver Linings Playbook, for which he was nominated for Best Director once again, along with Cooper's Best Actor nod and Lawrence's Best Actress win. Despite that, they still rank the lowest on our list, as they've been a team for the shortest amount of time. Sure, everything they've touched has turned to Oscar gold so far, but it's still too soon to tell whether or not their partnership will stand the test of time.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 2 for everyone Years of Partnership: 3 (Adams and Bale), 2 (Cooper and Lawrence) Highest grossing film: Silver Linings Playbook, $132 million Number of Oscar nominations: 3 (Russell), 1 (Bale, Lawrence, Adams, Cooper) Number of Oscar wins: One each for Lawrence and Bale Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Silver Linings Playbook, 92%
4. Christopher Nolan: Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Cillian Murphy. Nolan's team is by far the most financially successful, due primarily to all of these actors playing significant roles in the Batman franchise. When it came time for Nolan to branch out from superheroes into an original film, Inception, he took along Caine and Murphy, both of whom have worked with the director for a long time. It was working on Inception that he discovered Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt, who he promptly cast in the final Batman film. But despite their massive box office success, this team earns the fourth spot on our list due to Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt being such recent additions.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 6 (Caine), 4 (Murphy), 2 (Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt)Years of Partnership: 8 (Caine and Murphy), 3 (Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt)Highest Grossing film: The Dark Knight, $553.3 millionNumber of Oscar nominations: 2 (Nolan)Number of Oscar wins: 0Most Critically Acclaimed Film: The Dark Knight, 94%
3. Wes Anderson: Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson. Though this team is neither the most critically or financially successful group on the list, they earn their number-three spot by being one of the more iconic groupings in cinema. Whenever Anderson makes a new film, it's guaranteed that these actors will appear in some capacity, and they have come to epitomize the director's cinematic style and tone. With nearly 20 years of work under their belts, there's no doubt that this team will be one that endures for much longer; with Anderson's films gaining more and more critical and public attention, we're sure it's only a matter of time before they catch up to the other teams in both awards and box office returns.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 7 (Bill Murray and Owen Wilson), 5 (Jason Schwartzman)Years of Partnership: 17 (Wilson), 15 (Murray and Schwartzman)Highest Grossing film: Moonrise Kingdom ($45.5 million)Number of Oscar nominations: 3 (Anderson)Number of Oscar wins: 0Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Moonrise Kingdom, 94%
2. Tim Burton: Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp. This team is a good example of the adage "too much of a good thing." Although fans have enjoyed seeing Bonham Carter and Depp onscreen together for years, Burton's insistence on working primarily with these two actors has resulted in the partnership becoming something of a punchline, and has left many people blaming the recent decline in the quality of Burton's films on his reluctance to embrace new actors or styles. Despite this, the three of them have become one of the most iconic teams in film history, and have enjoyed a great deal of both critical and box office success over the time that they have spent working together. Depp and Burton also hold the distinction of having made the most films together out of all of the teams on our list, and many of those films are considered to be modern classics.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 8 (Depp), 7 (Carter)Years of Partnership: 23 (Depp), 12 (Carter)Highest grossing film: Alice in Wonderland ($334 million)Number of Oscar nominations: 0Number of Oscar wins: 0Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Sweeney Todd, 86%
1. The Coen Brothers: Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, and John Turturro. It makes sense that the director(s) with the most successful team of actors would, themselves, be a team. Over the course of almost 30 years — the longest partnership of any team on the list — Joel and Ethan Coen have directed their group of favorite actors in some of the best and most critically acclaimed films in recent history. They also hold the record for the most Oscar nominations any grouping on this list has received, and that's without including the clean sweep of awards that No Country For Old Men earned in 2007. They've also got the chance to put more distance between themselves and the other teams on this list this year, as the Goodman-starring Inside Llewyn Davis has been getting a lot of awards attention.
By The Numbers: Number of films made together: 6 (McDormand, Goodman, Buscemi), 4 (Turturro)Years of Partnership: 29 (McDormand), 26 (Goodman), 23 (Buscemi and Turturro)Highest Grossing film: Burn After Reading, $60 millNumber of Oscar nominations: 5 (Coen Brothers), 1 (McDormand)Number of Oscar wins: One each for the Coen Brothers and McDormand. Most Critically Acclaimed Film: Fargo, 94%
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Columbia Pictures
The opening scene of American Hustle — a loud, loquacious, upper-fueled romp through the avenues of high stakes swindling — plays somewhat like a Buster Keaton short. We watch a schlubby Christian Bale fumble (with as much delicacy as someone can, in fact, fumble) with a greasy combover and a dime store toupee, laughing at the small scale physical comedy and learning more than you'd expect about Bale's con man character Irving Rosenfeld before we even meet him or hear him speak.
But there is nary a silent moment in the two-and-half hours to follow. Its people speak in explosions. The passions are dialed all the way up between Irv, his accomplice and girlfriend Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), and the venemous FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) who rangles the pair into the biggest heist of their career. There's no tranquility in the waters of their high-stakes operation to take down a New Jersey mayor, the Italian mob, and quite possibly a few of the dirtier suits in Congress. When things proceed like clockwork, we're talking diving pendulums and cuckoo birds darting from every crevice. Naturally, it's all the more fun when things go awry.
And, of course they do. It wouldn't be a heist movie without a few cogs springing loose. But the beauty of American Hustle is in its undoing. From start to finish, Irv and Sydney are pros at the game. They leave no stone unturned in pulling the wool over the eyes of every deadbeat, mafioso, and active senator that finds his unlucky way into their eyeline. Even the misguided improvisations of Cooper's control freak lawman don't serve to uproot the plans from their course. We don't suffer through a dropping of their guard or an overlooking of important details. Everything that goes wrong in this movie is embedded in character.
The follies, screw-ups, and mutinies are all emotionally charged, inspired by romantic rivalry, ego, flights of affection, and the ribald distate that so many of these people have for each other. Everything in this big, flashy, high-stakes movie is personal. It's a toxic, burning love/hate/envy/longing/attraction/friendship/enmity between every conceivable pairing in this dynamic cast of rich, strong, uproarious characters that fuels the movie and drags down the scheme at its center.
Columbia Pictures
And just about everyone we meet is dragged into the maniacal nucleus by the arms of anxious passion. Irv's spitfire wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) outranks the lot of her company in the screws-loose department, stirring the pot of her unfaithful husband's business dealings as soon as she crosses the threshold into his world. The psychopathically dutiful Richie (Cooper) sees anyone who tries to temper his occupational obsessions as the enemy, even his pragmatic Midwesterner boss (Louis C.K.). And at the head of the race is Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), unaware of his place in this tremendous game but coursing at top speeds on an engine of his democratic heart nonetheless. The characters are all operating at 11, and most of the actors are able to keep up.
As Irv, a uniquely undesirable Bale is a laugh every minute. We enter this world through him — a world of accessible lies, of rough-and-tumble New York streets, of Long Island parties, of Duke Ellington, of hairpieces, of dry cleaners, of only conning the men you can stomach the idea of laying to waste — and have a terrific time walking in his footsteps. Always just out of reach is Adams as Sydney, who cons herself just as often as she does Richie, Irv, and the poor saps who fall for her seductive act. Bale and Adams are the standouts of the cast — playing their hearts on their sleeves and tucked away tightly, respectively — so it's good fortune that most of our time is spent with one or the other.
The power players from director David O. Russell's last effort, Cooper and Lawrence, shine a bit dimmer here — Cooper plays Richie as petulant, misguided, and teetering on the edge, but he's undercooked beside the far meatier material presented by Bale and Adams. Lawrence, while not without her moments, never seems to commit altogether to the loon that is Rosalyn, alternating between too reserved and too outlandish to really make the character feel like somebody. But the biggest surprise of the lot might be Renner, who has more fun as his Jersey boy Carmine than he ever has onscreen. But in earnest, some credit goes to the hair.
It's the electricity of American Hustle that keeps its long narrative from dragging. We have fun with the characters, the performances, and the colorful world itself. The movie never insists that we feel anything beyond that, but offers a few bites of some authentic empathy for Irv and his kind nonetheless. So we can dip into the bustling character work that Bale and Adams are mastering, Cooper is handling, and Lawrence is just falling shy of delivering on, but we're free to latch onto the life preserver of this movie's output of comedy. There's so much to laugh at in American Hustle, and some wonderfully molded characters to do all your laughing with.
4/5
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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